‘Not trying to be men’s team’ – Betts on Wigan rise

St Helens vs. Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup final

The Women’s Challenge Cup final earlier this year attracted a lot of attention from Wigan Warriors.

It would be an understatement to say that Leeds Rhinos were thrashed.

The two-time winners were destroyed by Denis Betts’ side 44-14, and Wigan never looked particularly vulnerable in the 80 minutes, despite a late Leeds rally.

With St Helens and York dominating the last few years along with Leeds, it signaled the rise of a new side to the top of the women’s game in England.

What is the cause of Wigan’s recent rise, though? And where did Leeds play in that game?

Leeds had already defeated Wigan in the semi-final in May.

However, Warriors held on to lead the Super League standings with three victories from three, and finished in the tie.

The key to forging their own path as opposed to imitating their quadruple-winning men’s team is unknown, according to Wigan legend Betts, who claims there is no secret why his side have stooped their way to 2025.

Former Wigan and Great Britain second row Betts, 55, told BBC Sport, “We’ve tried to do as a team that we’re not trying to look like a men’s team.”

We’re just trying to be who we are as a group of young, inspiring women who want to play rugby, pass the ball, and have fun while doing it.

In his nine years with the club, from 1986 to 1995, Betts won seven men’s Challenge Cups out of a slew of titles, including seven championship titles with an all-capiting Wigan side.

He quickly rebuilt Wigan as the women’s head coach in 2024 after serving as a coach for a number of clubs, including Widnes, and quickly began to transform their fortunes.

After losing to eventual champions Leeds Rhinos in the Challenge Cup last year, Betts has seen the progression of his team.

He believes that the team’s current state was a result of their experiences in 2024, despite the outcome, and that their performance was influenced by that loss.

It took a few games and months for things to get going, Betts added, but we did witness a small amount of it in the semi-final [in 2024] when Leeds defeated us at St Helens.

We saw glimpses of it, and over the course of the season, we’ve improved, culminating in a fantastic win over York [Leeds] in the semi-final of 2025.

“We’ve given ourselves a chance in the top four, but we’ve never really taken that chance and put on a performance that, in theory, would give us a real foothold in that elite group.”

Betts knows that Wembley is an accomplishment in itself, so despite their recent advancement, he is not putting pressure on himself to win.

Wigan has never reached the Women’s Challenge Cup final since it was founded in 2012, but they know they must work hard if they want to defeat Saints, who have won the competition for the past four years.

Wembley is a fantastic occasion, but it’s not the end all, “Betts continued.”

This group is improving, and this is just the start, not the end. Nothing is the end, just the beginning.